About Me

Wife ... Mother ... Writer

I live in Texas with my fabulous husband and kids, and I have a BA in Sociology. I wear lots of different hats in my everyday life - juggling family, work, and other various responsibilities.

In my spare time, I love to read, and when I'm not reading, I'm writing!

What do I write?

I write fiction novel series - of the (mature) Young Adult / New Adult romance variety. But it's not all romance! There are interwoven themes of "coming of age", child/parent and family struggles, teen angst, and finding and practicing faith.

The teen years and early twenties are a tough time of figuring out who you are, what you stand for, where you want to go in life, etc. I write about characters finding their way through that critical time in their lives. Sometimes it's not pretty. Sometimes other people in their lives are helpful, but sometimes they're not, and a person has to figure out how to deal with that.

To tell a relatable story ...

I'm especially interested in how the family, as a social institution, shapes and affects the attitudes, motivations, and goals of young people. I enjoy portraying complicated family dynamics and the catalysts that launch teenagers into adulthood.

My hope is that readers, of all ages, will be encouraged and inspired by the main characters in my novels as they learn to define relationship boundaries and triumph over obstacles and limitations.

Keep reading below for more about me.

Dear Readers,Thank you so much for allowing me to share with
you the story of Olivia and Cameron and their friends and families. These
characters have become very real for me, and I hope they have for you as well.My novels are set in the early 1990s because I
wanted to go back to a time when teens didn't have so much modern technology in
their lives. This enables me to concentrate on genuine character development
and focus on building their relationships without the constant noise and
distraction of cell phones and social media.One of the biggest challenges of writing in that
time period has been to make sure I don't include things that are commonplace
in today's world. For example, before I make any mention of different forms of
media or technology, I do some research to make sure it actually existed prior
to 1991, or that it came about during the course of the novel's timeline. It's
been fun to revisit those days before the internet and the world wide web, and I
hope some of my fellow high school alumni will appreciate the walk down memory
lane.During my early teen years, I developed
aspirations of becoming a writer. I even made an amateur attempt at writing a
book. God bless the middle school English teacher who agreed to read it and
offer her comments. It was romance, something I had limited knowledge or
understanding of at the time, so you can imagine how lame it was! After that, I
mostly gave up on creative writing for a long time. In large part because I
hadn't experienced enough in life to have anything interesting to tell about.
However, these many years later, I've definitely gained life experiences; some have
been great, some not so much, and others can just be chalked up as painful
learning opportunities.Teens grapple with a lot of issues as they prepare
to launch into adulthood. I found myself reflecting on the process that I'd recently
gone through to help my own teenager get ready to leave for college and survive
those first few months away from home. The characters in Olivia, On the Brink took shape, and a storyline began to form as I
drew on my own background in social sciences, particularly sociology of the
family.I've immensely enjoyed crafting this story which I
believe to be entertaining and relatable to all ages. What started as a standalone
novel has grown into a series of at least three books (possibly four), as well
as plans for a spinoff series about Olivia's sister, Emma. I hope you continue
to join me on this literary journey, and if you'll provide me with your contact
information via my website, www.tessapalmeri.com, I'll do my best to keep you
apprised of new book release dates.Sincerely,Tessa Palmeri